2003 Postseason Replay: Wakefield's Wobbly Offerings Topple A's

Tim Wakefield held the A's hitless for the first four innings allowing only three singles in a masterful 8.1 inning effort as the Boston Red Sox snuck past the Oakland A's 3-1 in the Game 1 of the ALDS. Wakefield surrendered one walk and struck out three batters in a 91 pitch tour de force performance. 

The only run the A's managed was from the result of a Trot Nixon error in the sixth. Nixon momentarily lost track of an Eric Byrnes' fly ball and it glanced off his glove for a two-base error. After Brynes stole third, A's second sacker Mark Ellis drove him in to shave the Boston lead in half at 2-1.

The Red Sox got the drop on A's starter Mark Mulder with their first swings. A free pass to Todd Walker ended up costing Mulder as he came in to score on an RBI single by Manny Ramirez. Walker got in on the act in the fifth as well slicing an RBI single to left which proved to be the winning run. In the 2003 actual ALDS against Oakland, Walker starred with a .313 BA playing in all five games. He was a factor in Game 1 of that series smashing 2 bombs in a 5-4 loss. 

Walker delivering his game-winning ribbie

David Ortiz gave Boston some breathing room in the eighth ripping a double into the right-center field gap. After Nomar Garciaparra got hit by a pitch, he scored on Ortiz's two-out rope off reliever Jim Mecir. Mulder was lifted after 7 innings admirably scattering 9 hits on 110 pitches. Mulder was a first-time all-star in 2003 going 15-9 with a 3.13 ERA, but he was hit by the injury bug and never played in the ALDS. It's also worth noting that Mulder pitched 9 complete games in 26 starts in 2003.

Ortiz celebrates his double

The A's made things interesting in the ninth. Wakefield struck out Mark Ellis, but after Scott Hatteberg smacked a single to right, Alan Embree was summoned to face A's slugger Eric Chavez. Chavez lined out to short, and Mike Timlin was then called on to face Michael Tejeda. Tejeda singled to put runners on first and second for A's DH Erubial Durazo. Sawx manager Grady Little stayed with Timlin, and he was rewarded as Durazo grounded out to end the game.

This was the second consecutive game in which a Red Sox starter had only allowed one run. Pedro Martinez held down the Seattle Mariner offense in the American League Wild Card game as Boston also won that contest by an identical 3-1 score.